The BTIR Rewrite
by DisneyLady824
Summary: Somebody stop the presses! Why are there seven boys standing in my now demolished kitchen adorning open switchblades and threatening my sisters life? Maybe wishes on shooting stars really do come true.
1. Mark Windle is Not a Jackass

**A/N** - So I'm extremely excited to finally get this rewrite on the road. The idea of it has been rolling around in my head these past few months and I finally made a decision to make my _Outsiders_ story even better. If you read the first version, you'll immediately take notice to a few things that have been changed. But it's all for the better of the story.

Please, read this (even go back and tell me about the first one, I'm not taking it down for a while) and leave a review.

Sorry about any kind of errors you might find, It hasn't exactly been ten minutes since I finished this chapter.

**Disclaimer -** Anything you see here that is familiar in any way, I do not own. The only things I do own are my characters.

* * *

I sat down on the blood red hydrant near the edge of the road and let my skateboard fall back and forth between my hands. My turquoise colored backpack's weight leaned against my leg and I kicked it away from me. It tilted and fell to the ground on its side. I sighed deeply and looked at the Mickey Mouse watch clasped to my right wrist.

They were five minutes and twenty-seven seconds late.

I threw my head back and took a particular interest in the robin feeding it's babies in the tree shading the area I was sitting in. I moved uncomfortably as the hydrant got harder and harder to sit still on.

"Hey, Jet!"

My eyes immediately jumped to the tall boy running across the street towards me. A stack of library books were in the crook of his elbow and his red plaid button up shirt was thrown over his shoulder, leaving only his white undershirt on.

"Sup, Orange. I thought you were supposed to be here oh," I looked down at my watch. "Seven minutes ago. And where are the rest of the hooligans at?"

Orange shifted his books and shoved them into my hands so he could pull his shirt over his shoulders. I looked through the book titles quickly, barely even taking in the words '-Mockingbird' '-Potter and the-' and some World War II history information title, before they were taken back by their current owner.

"I'm late cause Mrs. Harder was having trouble with the computer to check my books out. She had to do it by hand. I don't know where the others are. I thought they were going to be here with you."

I blinked and checked the surrounding area over dramatically. "Does it look like they are?"

Orange rolled his eyes and sat down on the curb a few feet away. He grabbed for my backpack before I could say anything and shoved his books into it and zipped it back up. I shook my head and clucked my tongue at him.

"You're carrying that thing now that your stuff is in it."

"Of course."

We sat in silence for a few moments.

"Does Rex have your scooter?"

Orange scratched his head in thought. "It was in his locker during school so, yes, I assume he has it."

I nodded. "He'll probably bring it with him when he rides up on his bike."

Twenty seconds later we heard the tell tale sound of a playing card running against the spokes of bike tires.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear."

Rex skid to a stop in front of us and threw a dark gray, folded up scooter onto the grass next to Orange. The muscles in his back rippled as he leaned over the handles bars of his black and yellow Mongoose bike and his dark hair stayed in its messy state due to the gel he put in it.

"Your brother's going to get in trouble."

I immediately jumped to my feet. "Why, what'd he do?"

He did nothing but nod to something over my shoulder.

I quickly turned to see my baby brother and my friend trying their best to reach us before the group in Letterman jackets chasing after, did to them. Orange jumped to his feet and hurriedly unfolded his scooter and picked up my backpack and threw it over his shoulders. I let my skateboard fall to the ground and I jumped on it and got ready to follow the two racing towards us.

"Get home Jet!"

"Hurry before they catch and blame you too!"

The two blurs went past us and we scurried to catch up to them. I glanced behind after a block to see the seniors raising their hands in defeat before turning back towards the school parking lot. I took notice to one of the figures having purple hair. I blinked in surprise, still staring at the one with funky colored hair, and didn't notice the uneven cracks in the sidewalk.

Next thing I knew I was on my back in the grass trying to figure out how I got there. My brothers worried face appeared over mine, his honey gaze staring down at me.

"Are you ok?"

I groaned.

Three more faces appeared next to my brothers.

"Did you have a nice fall? Cause I'll definitely be excited for the next upcoming trip."

I tried to focus on the person who said that. "Shut up Battery."

A hand reached down to help me up and I grasped it tightly. Orange let go as soon as he knew I was not going to fall over again. I rubbed my back and roughly shoved Battery's shoulder when he started laughing.

"S'not funny Bat!"

He was almost doubled over. "You should have seen the look on your face when you went down. Did you see it Cameron?"

Cameron scowled at Battery and shook his head.

"I did," Rex stated. A smile started to form on his lips. "And it sure as shit was funny."

Battery gave Rex a high five. Orange rolled his eyes at the two and let his eyes drift downwards.

"Jet?"

I squinted up at him. "Yeah?"

He gestured towards my pants. I looked down and found my eyes drawn to the large rip in my left knee.

"Damn! April's gonna kill me. These were my last pair of good pants."

Cameron cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Not if she gets to me first."

I looked at him suspiciously. "Yeah, you mind telling me what the hell you guys were doing? Why were some of the varsity football team members chasing after you?"

Battery's green eyes brightened at my words. He peered over to Cameron. "Mind if I tell it?"

My brother shrugged and stated bluntly, "We put hair dye in Casey Kroft's shampoo."

Battery glowered at him. "There goes all my fun."

Orange started laughing and Rex looked at them in disbelief. I slapped my hand to my forehead.

The oldest out of our group gaped at them. "You mean to tell me, that _you_, Cameron Black and Battery Robert Rogers, turned _Casey Krofts_ hair purple."

Battery mouthed the words, "Didn't you just sat that?" silently to Cameron.

"Do you both have a death wish?"

This surprised them both. Cameron exchanged a worried glance with the dark haired blond. "No...?"

I bent over to get my skateboard and to right Orange's scooter. "Well you've obviously got one. Casey's one of the Defensive Tacklers on the football team. You're probably going to be dead by three o'clock on Monday after school." I flipped my long mahogany hair back over my shoulder and added, "He's got a mean tackle."

"Killed a kid once," Rex continued on for me as he pulled his bike off its side.

Cameron froze and Battery started mumbling nonsense. "Need Nemo... avocado's poisonous to birds...more bacteria in your own mouth then there are in the world...about one in thirty people in the U.S. are in jail, on probation, or on parole........we're gonna die?!"

"Yeah, and then Casey will be a part of that statistic you just rambled off." Cameron wiped his face and rubbed at his eyes.

I smiled at my little brother. "C'mon kid, lets get home. I'll try and reason with Krofts Monday morning. He's in my English class."

Cameron flipped his skateboard over before stepping onto it and asking incredulously, "He failed junior English?"

I nodded and kicked off. The others slowly followed. Rex casually leaned back with only one hand on the handle bars. He waggled his eyebrows at me when I glanced over to him. I leaned towards him and smacked at his arm, completely missing and almost falling off my board.

He chuckled. "Don't need you falling off any more then need be, Jet. Ape's already gonna have a conniption fit because of the results of the recent one."

I groaned. "Don't mention it to me."

* * *

About ten minutes later we were piling past the egg shell white door and into my family's living room. The place was small, the kitchen consisting of both it and the dining room. It only had two bedrooms, leaving me to share my room with Cameron (not that I completely minded), and one tiny little bathroom that probably should've only been a half bath but was instead a full bathroom.

"Cameron? Jet? Is that you?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Kay, come in here please." My sister waited a second before going on. "The rest of you can hang where you usually do. The house is yours."

My friends immediately flopped onto the couch, their feet ending up on the coffee table and the TV flicked on and changed from Fox News to Cartoon Network. I rolled my eyes at how predictable my friends were.

Cameron and I made our way into the kitchen, him sitting down at the table and me jumping up to sit on an empty counter top. April's shoulder length mahogany hair was pulled into a complicated twist and her black waitressing vest was thrown over the back of the chair Cameron took a seat on. She walked around the table to get to the pantry, running her hand over my brothers hair, and returned with a couple boxes of Macaroni and Cheese. She shook one of the boxes and looked from me to my brother and back.

"This and hot dogs ok? I don't really have time to make anything else."

Cameron shrugged and fiddled with a vase of dying flowers on the table. Before my sister could get aggravated at our uncooperativeness, I yelled out, "Mac 'n' Cheese and hot dogs! Does it sound good?"

"Yes!"

"I love you April!"

"Gimme some a that yummy monster!"

I looked at my sister pointedly. "Does that answer your question?"

April grunted something unintelligible and pulled two pans out from under the stove. She filled them with water and set them on a couple of the burners, turning the knobs on high. With that done, she turned and leaned back on the counter nearby, sagging heavily against it.

Cameron took off towards the living room after hearing one of the boys shout, "Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy!"

I waved my sister over once she finally opened her eyes. She came to stand in front of me and let her lower back rest against my knees. I kneaded into the tense muscles on her shoulders and felt her start to relax as the knots started disappearing.

"What was it this time?"

April's head fell forward, enjoying the magic of my fingers digging into her skin. "Mark-"

"The Jackass."

"Don't call him that."

"Well he is."

April's head turned to give me an exasperated look.

"Sorry. Mark Windle is not a jackass... please continue."

"Anyways, Mark dropped a tub full of dishes during lunch hour. Broken ceramics and glass were everywhere and the idiot had the nerve to blame me for the incident when Nicolette came to check it out."

"Did you explain this all to Big Mama Nikki?"

"I tried to. Mark wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise."

"Maybe you should quit."

Her shoulders tensed up and I smoothed my hands over them and rubbed her arms. "I can't quit. The money mom and dad left us is almost gone and I need this job to keep us living in this house."

"I keep telling you sis, I can help out y'know."

April stepped away and turned to face me fully. "Absolutely not. You're still a kid-"

"I'm seventeen."

"Yes, but you still act like you're seven sometimes," she sighed and ran a hand over her face. "You still need to live your childhood. I don't want you complicating your life by becoming worried about money problems."

"Ok... But if you ever change your mind, you should have those slobs out there," I pointed to the living room where the theme song of Spongebob Squarepants (they must have changed the channel to Nick) was playing through the speakers. "Start paying us rent. They do practically live here."

My sister giggled softly and looked down to see what I was doing when I started swinging my feet against the cupboard. She froze.

"What the hell happened to your jeans Jet?"

I sheepishly scratched at the back of my neck, suddenly wishing the boys would turn the volume back up on the TV. They had muted it to hear this conversation.

"I kinda...see it was...uhm.... uneven sidewalk?"

The peanut gallery certainly didn't help.

"She didn't mean to-"

"-was an accident-"

"-awesome fall-"

"-hilarious face-"

"-you shoulda seen it Ape-"

"-would have laughed your ass off!"

April silently fumed, picked up a plastic spoon with holes in it, for the macaroni, and deliberately pointed towards where the voices were coming from. "Jus-just go and get your homework done. And yes," she stopped me from interrupting. "I know you've got homework Jet Black, I talked to Mr. Craig on Tuesday. You haven't turned in your book questions for the novel you're reading in class right now. Go get it and get started on it."

I sulked past the devil with the spoon, her slapping my butt with it as I went, and made it into the living room. I glared at the occupants now spread across the floor. I jabbed my finger at them. "Thanks a lot guys. Which one of you mentioned my missing assignments to April. Cause whenever I find out who it was, I'm gonna skin them and feed their innards to Roscoe next door."

At the mention of the Doberman Pincher in the next house over, they made the right decision in staying silent. I gripped the straps of my backpack and tore it from where it sat next to Rex's feet. I pulled Orange's library books out carefully and set them down under the side table to be gathered at a later time. I reached in for the one item I was looking for and grinned as the small paperback book came free from my backpack.

_**The Outsiders**_ was going to get the shit read out of it, even if I hadn't originally planned on doing the reading in the first place.


	2. WherewasIwhenthischapterwaswritten?

The words on the pages of the book were beginning to run together. Each new sentence left me even more uninterested then the one before it. I couldn't focus and all the distractions around me weren't helping the situation.

Battery sat in front of the TV, his face merely inches away from it. The volume was turned up almost to the max. I could practically hear the speakers vibrating from where I sat across the room. Meerkat Manor was playing on the screen and I couldn't help but turn my eyes once in a while to see what was going on in the meerkat family.

Cameron was on the floor below me, his back leaning against the couch cushion I was curled up on. His fingers were carefully running over the buttons on his Gameboy Advanced. His face scrunched as he decided what Pokemon to use in the next upcoming battle. I could hear the music of a fight commencing when his character walked through the tall grass.

Orange was in and out of the house. One minute he was walking through the living room to reach the kitchen for a bucket of water and the next he was walking right back out the door. Several times he was wiping his greasy hands on an old rag. I figured he was attempting to fix my hunk-a-junk car in the garage.

Rex was in the kitchen, his footsteps crossing from the fridge to the counter and back. I could hear the forgotten dinner dishes being thrown into the sink. The water was running and Rex cursed out loud about it being too hot.

April was the only one that was unaccounted for. After dinner she had disappeared into the back of the house and I hadn't seen hide nor hair of her in the last hour. I just assumed that she was giving herself a pep talk before work. If I had to work with the jackass known as Mark Windle I know I'd be giving myself one too.

"No, Flower, go the other way," Battery suddenly shouted. "The Lazuli are in that direction!"

My eyes once again left the book and my head tilted to see the TV around Battery's head. Flower made a quick recovery and I looked back down at the small novel. I gave a frustrated sigh before slapping it shut and tossing it to the other side of the couch. My brother was immediately pausing his game and reaching for the paperback.

"This your homework?"

I somewhat answered him with a grunt. My mind was currently focused on the good sized blue stain on the cushion the book had been resting on. I still think April should have punished Rex for spilling my Kool-Aid instead of grounding_ me _for it.

"What's it about?"

"I dunno," I replied while tilting my head towards the ceiling. The screen door opened and then quickly slammed shut. "Ask Orange."

The boy with copper colored hair glanced up from cleaning his hands off for the last time (I knew this because he tossed the rag away near the doorway when he was done) before asking, "Ask Orange what?"

Cameron waved _The Outsiders_ in the air. Orange scratched at his cheek before answering.

"It's about a kid back in, like, the sixties I think. He and his brother have some really weird names, his best friend kills somebody, they go into hiding, there's a fire in the church they're staying in, one gets hurt, there's a hospital visit, kid dies, bad ass gets shot for stickin up a gas station... or something like that. Maybe it was a grocery store."

My younger brother's face grew confused at the fast words as he gazed up at Orange. "...Huh?"

I quickly sat up and snatched the book out of Cameron's hands. "Dally gets shot and Johnny dies? What the hell. Where was I when this chapter was written?"

"Probably still stuck on the first page."

I glanced up to see Rex slouching against the archway to the kitchen, a bowl of leftover Macaroni and Cheese in his hands. I stuck my tongue out at him childishly. He just rolled his eyes and gestured to the book I was holding.

"It's a good thing you understood what he was talking about, cause I couldn't get past 'They go into hiding,' and I read the damn book last year."

I ignored Rex and flicked through the pages until I found the words, _"I killed him," he said slowly. "I killed that boy."_ So, bad boy Dally got shot and little shy Johnny died from a fire. How sad.

April was unexpectedly rushing into the room, purse dangling from one hand, black waitressing vest in the midst of being pulled up her shoulders and a pen stuck between her teeth. She hurriedly pulled her vest the rest of the way up her arms and removed the pen from her mouth.

"Ok guys," my sister said as she hastily buttoned the few buttons on her outfit. "I've got a double shift-"

"Does that mean you have to work in the morning too?" Cameron interrupted.

"Yes, it does. Please be good. Don't wreck the house while I'm gone. I'll be back sometime around lunch. Battery," here she stopped from gathering her keys from her purse to glare at the blond headed boy. "Since I've got the night shift, this does _not_ mean that you can go into my room and search through my underwear drawer."

Battery looked dejected before grinning impishly.

April gave an exasperated groan and picked up a lone DVD case from the floor and flung it at him. "I mean it."

My friend scrambled to catch the movie. I rolled my eyes as he finally got a grip on it and almost squealed to see that it happened to be his favorite film, _Finding Nemo_.

My sister briskly kissed Cameron on the forehead, him pushing her back and wiping away her kiss in disgust. I allowed her to do the same for me, not wiping it off as my brother had. She paused in front of me, her face only inches away from mine.

"Don't let Battery into my room, don't let Cameron stay up too late, and please don't let Orange get into the cake in the fridge. It's for Nicolette's birthday on Sunday."

I repeatedly nodded my head along with everything she said. I almost sighed in relief as she opened the front door. The ease instantly disappeared as she turned back to me and pointed at the book in my hands.

"And get that book read. Those questions Mr. Craig told me about are due on Monday. I want them done by tomorrow night."

My eyes widened and I was instantaneously whining. "B-but April! Tomorrow's Saturday! We were planning on-"

"I don't care," my sister interrupted with a firm voice. "Get them done."

I frowned as she raised an eyebrow at my pouting face. She rolled her eyes and promptly closed both doors after stepping outside. Her car started up and soon enough we could hear the sound of the engine heading down the street above the squeaks of the meerkats from the TV.

* * *

Hours had passed since my sister left for work and I was still struggling with getting through the book. With a quick glance at the page number, seventy-three, I scowled down at the words. Seriously, this book wasn't even that long, one hundred-fifty pages at the most. I set the paperback book down onto my lap and surveyed what everyone else was doing.

Rex and Battery were on the floor near the TV. My energized friend's eyes were glued to the screen, the fingers of his left hand scrambling over the Xbox controller settled on his knee. His right hand was currently in front of Rex's moving head, trying to distract the older teen. Rex's fist lashed out and jabbed Battery in the side. The blond moaned in pain before soon forgetting about it and giving his attention back to trying to beat his opponent. This had been going on for an hour.

Cameron had gone to bed ten minutes ago at my insistence. I thought it was perfectly fine for the fifteen year old to be up at one in the morning as long as it was the weekend. April thought otherwise though and I tried to stay on her good side by sending my little brother to bed before he managed to get me yelled at in the morning.

The only one not home besides my sister was Orange. He had gone home just minutes before I was forcing Cameron into our room. I knew he'd be back sometime in the early morning. His step-father always kicked him out at ungodly hours. We never had a clue if it was going to late at night or too early in the morning for me to even think about waking up. Orange never gave me any incentive that this routine bothered him too much, so I never brought it up when he stumbled through our front door at random times of the day.

I rubbed at my eyes and peered down at the open book in my lap. The words grew smaller with each second I stared at it. The black ink was starting to burn my eyes, just as the light did coming from the TV, and I slowly got to my feet. After taking the time to stretch the kinks out of my back from sitting on the couch for so long, I shuffled past Rex and Battery. I ruffled their hair as I went by and came to stand by the front door. Orange would be back any second now. I had a feeling he would be.

"I'm gonna sit out on the porch for a bit guys. Don't break the TV while I'm gone."

"Sure thing Jet," Rex replied without taking his eyes away from the war game. "Just make sure you get that book finished or your ass is grass when Ape asks for those questions tomorrow."

I rolled my eyes at him, not that he was paying any attention, and opened the door. "I get ya."

Not bothering to flip the porch light on, I opened the screen door and let it slam shut behind me. I sat down on the front steps, careful to not miss one because of the pitch black, and drew my feet up to the step below me. The book was still in my hands and I set it down between my bare feet. I could barely read the title, _The Outsiders_, through the darkness as I looked at it.

I glanced up into the night sky just in time to see a shooting star streak across the inky blackness. I shut my eyes, tilted my head back, and made a wish that I knew would never come true. The next thing I knew, it was twenty minutes later and someone was startling me from my relaxation time.

"What are you doing, Jet?"

I jumped as my eyes snapped open and I glimpsed the silhouette of a teenage boy before the porch light flipped on. I squinted up at Orange and turned to see Battery sleepily grinning from behind the mesh of the screen door.

"Time for bed, kiddies."

Orange mumbled nonsense and trudged up the steps past me. I frowned at the bruise starting to form on his jaw. I'd have to ask him about it in the morning. Orange let the door swing shut after he was fully inside and I could hear Battery chattering to him about winning his game. I moved to stand up and my foot nudged against the book I had momentarily forgotten about. I scooped it up and shuffled up the stairs. If I had waited a moment longer, I would have been able to witness a star in the sky shinning much more brighter then it had seconds before.

* * *

I woke up from a dead sleep. My eyes blearily stared at the bed opposite from mine as I tried to figure out what woke me. Nothing was happening. No sounds other then the occasional car passing on the street, the deep breathing in the room and the light snores coming from the floor.

Eyes finally focused, I gazed across the small space to Cameron's bed. He was still fast asleep on his stomach facing me, his arm hanging over the edge of the bed and his head flat against the mattress. He had given his pillow to Battery the night before.

The arm thrown across my waist pulled me closer to the body crowded behind me. It took me a moment to figure out who it was. The class ring on the middle finger gave away the identity as to whose breath was lightly puffing against the back of my neck. Rex had managed to maneuver himself onto my bed halfway through the night after getting kicked in the face by Battery for the last time.

I struggled to lean over the edge of my bed to get a look at the kicking teen to see if he was the one who had woken me up. He couldn't have. He was still dead to the world with drool leaking from his open mouth and all over Cameron's pillow. My brother was going to be pissed as soon as he laid eyes on that. Although it was his own fault, really. We all knew Battery drooled when he slept, so Cameron offering his pillow to the boy was like letting someone borrow your clarinet. It always came back with more spit on it then it originally had... gross.

I laid back down flat on my back and furrowed my eyebrows as I again contemplated what had made me wake. The light seeping through the cracks of the dark curtain on the window usually never woke me, so I immediately ruled that out. I heard a cupboard from the kitchen slam shut and pots banged against the stove.

Is that Orange? I sat up, Rex's arm tightening around my waist, and peered at the floor near the door. No, it wasn't Orange. He was still cuddled up to my extra pillow and the Transformers blanket that he always borrowed was twisted around his torso.

I blankly stared at my bedroom door. Who was in the kitchen? April wasn't supposed to be home till around lunch time. My eyes flittered towards the alarm clock on the table between mine and my brothers bed. I instantly calmed as I saw the time; eleven forty-five. My sister had probably gotten off work early and was making lunch.

Next to me, Rex shifted and turned so he was lying on his back. My shoulders slumped and I relaxed back down into his side. As long as April decided to not bang any more pots, I could probably get fifteen more minutes of sleep before she took the time to come wake us up.

The fifteen minutes didn't last long. It was only seconds after I had closed my eyes that I heard a car pull up into the driveway. I stayed still with my eyes staring at the ceiling as a car door slammed shut. Heeled footsteps came up the walkway past my window. I heard the front door open, the screen door squeak as it did the same, and then both were quietly shut.

"Jet! I brought home lunch from the restaurant. I want everyone up so they can all-"

The words were interrupted by a very loud scream.

My eyes widened as I realized that whoever was in our kitchen making all that noise, was not my sister. From the floor I heard Battery mumble to himself as he wiped at the drool pooling under his chin. Cameron flinched before turning over and pulling his blanket up over his head, not even opening his eyes. Rex tensed up beside me before sitting up at the same time I did. Orange stayed huddled up on his spot on the floor, not moving an inch.

"...Jet! Cameron! Anybody! Get your ass out here now!"

I hesitated for a moment, not wanting to get yelled at by my sister for something I most likely didn't do. I was shoved out of bed for pausing. I let out a noise that resembled a terrified mouse as I fell. I groaned as I landed on Battery.

The blond's eyes flipped open. "...Ow. What was that for?"

I pushed myself to my feet before answering, "Sorry, Bat, Rex shoved me out of the bed."

Battery squinted up at me, blew a raspberry, and then closed his eyes once again.

Smiling down at him softly, I flinched as I heard my sister yell my name once again, her voice sounding sightly strained. I stumbled over Battery's legs and glared at Rex as he stood up from the mattress.

"You didn't have to push me, you know," I grumbled to him as I tugged Orange's feet to move him away from the door.

"Didn't have to, but wanted to," he replied with a grin on his face.

I murmured a curse word at him as I eventually managed to move my best friend. I fumbled with the door handle for a brief second and I heard Rex sigh. He reached under my arm and quickly twisted the knob and easily opened the door. I nodded my thanks to him.

"JET!"

My sister's cries were beginning to become more frantic and that made me rush from the tiny bedroom we were all sleeping in. April stood at the end of the hall in the archway to the kitchen. A few white bags with the logo _Lonnie's _had been dropped to the floor. Her hair was starting to come out of it's complicated twist, her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows and her vest was unbuttoned. Her keys were still dangling from two fingers on her right hand.

As soon as she saw us, that hand rose to point at me accusingly.

"I thought I told you to not let any more people that I haven't met into the house?"

I cautiously took a couple steps towards her. Rex was inching me along with a hand on my lower back. "You did... and I haven't"

She raised an eyebrow at me incredulously and gestured to the kitchen. "Then do you want to explain this?"

It was at that moment that I could hear someone harshly whispering something about being in the wrong house. My sister turned her head to look at whoever was talking.

"Not now!" she said with a severe look on her face.

I heard a box, one that sounded suspiciously like it was of the cereal kind, hit the floor as someone moved. Rex pushed himself in front of me as we arrived at the kitchen entrance just in time to see a tow-headed boy flick open a Butterfly Knife and threateningly point it in the direction of my sister.

"Don't you dare talk to him like that!"

April froze after letting out a short-lived shriek and Rex shifted so he was half in front my sister and half in front of me. I just stared at the room before us from over Rex's shoulder.

My breath hitched as I took in the disaster that was my kitchen. The cupboard doors were all open, the fridge was letting all the cold air out due to the many Tupperware containers full of leftovers keeping it from closing all the way and several pots and pans were laid out all over the counter top. Seven deadly looking strangers were standing in the middle of it all. None of that mattered to me though. I took one look at the box of Apple Jacks that was laying on the floor, the donut shaped orange and green cereal spread over the gray tile, and became very angry.

"Who in the hell dumped my cereal all over the floor?"

I glanced at every single person in the kitchen as they all froze from the tone of my voice. The stranger closest to the cereal, the one with rust colored sideburns I quickly took notice of, looked back and forth between the floor and my furious face. He shrugged his shoulders and grinned at me cheekily.

"It was like that when we got here. I think it must've been the Abominable Snowman that did it."

After blankly staring at him for no more then a minute, I promptly lunged at him. Nobody talked to me about my cereal like that without getting choked. Especially if it was over Apple Jacks. Rex's arms swiftly circled my waist from behind before I could get any closer to the teenager. It was as if he knew what I was going to do before hand. The rusty haired teens goofy grin vanished as he cringed slightly.

Someone from the other side of the kitchen pushed himself in front of the others and he waved them all back. This newer male was taller then me. Much taller. He was at least 6"2. He stood about half a foot above my head. His hair was cropped closely to his head and his muscles bulged from beneath the tight black shirt he was wearing.

"We don't mean to cause any trouble."

"Yeah sure," my sister said doubtfully. She pointed at the tow-headed teen. "He's still got that damn knife out."

The man turned. Sternly staring at the boy he said firmly, "Put the blade away, Dally."

The boy, Dally, flicked his wrist and the Butterfly Knife closed back up before he stuffed it back into the pocket of his leather jacket. His sharp blue eyes glanced at my sister menacingly as he took a couple steps back to stand next to a smaller tanned skinned teen wearing a denim jacket.

Rex finally let go of my waist and moved me to stand beside him. His hand was resting on my shoulder though, as if to hold me back from any future attacks. One of the unknown males, who looked like those old movie stars did way back when, nudged a boy who resembled him quite a bit on the arm. The smaller teen didn't take his eyes off the three of us as he turned his head slightly to hear what the older boy had to tell him.

He never even had a chance to get out what he had to say. My sister made sure of that.

"Please tell me that you're friends of Jet."

The seven boys in front of us exchanged confused looks. April shifted so she was staring at me. I glanced at her and then did a double-take as I noticed her stare.

"I don't know them! Why are you looking at me like that?"

She sighed. "Because you're the one who lets random strangers into the house while I'm not home."

I pointed a finger at her. "I did that one time. One time and I'm still getting crap for it. The dude was starving, what else was I supposed to do?"

I heard a timid voice ask the question, "What's a 'dude'?" before April continued on.

"You could've just brought the guy a sandwich. You didn't have to bring him into the house. He stole Grandmama's old urn. You know, the one Tiddles' ashes were in?"

Someone snorted. "Who would steal the ashes of a person named Tiddles?"

I turned to point at the person happily. "See Ape, at least someone else finds it amusing. Pound it!" I raised my clenched hand up for the fist bump but he just gave me a bewildered look. Hmm, it must have been all that hair gel in his dark compacted curls soaking into his brain that made him confused. "Or not."

My sister growled at both me and the discombobulated boy. "It wasn't a person, it was a cat!"

I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. "Exactly! It was a freakin cat that Grams still kept as soon as it died. She had that thing in a freezer for a year before she actually got it cremated and put it in that urn."

"This is better then those shows we get on TV," a voice said, not even bothering to be quiet.

"She loved that cat!"

"I know!"

"Then why is it funny that he stole it?"

"Because he took it while wearing a freakin clown costume!"

Rex took this moment to step between my sister and I before she decided to take a swing at me. Her nostrils flared in anger and her jaw clenched.

"If you have no clue who these people are then you need to be figuring it out. I'm going to Susan's house."

"Why?"

"So I can get away from you!"

"But remember what Dr. Kneedler said, '_Always take the time to face the situation and calm down,' _and you're not doing that."

"I remember what Dr Kneedler said. I don't need you to spout off his psychobabble at me. I just want to get away from you before I decide to kill you!"

She pivoted on her feet and stormed across the living room. I blew out air between my lips as the door slammed shut. Rex scratched at his head and looked a the floor.

"At least she left lunch here."

He said it too soon. The door was flung open and April hurried across the room, grabbing the white bags at our feet before we could reach for them.

"This is mine, don't even think about it," she snarled at both Rex and I before turning back around and slamming the door once again.

"Damn... and I smelled grilled cheese sandwiches too," Rex spoke as we heard the tires of my sisters car squeal as she peeled off down the street.

"Are you serious?" I asked, still staring at the door my sister had slammed shut. "Tommy makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches."

"I know, that's why I'm so sad to see them go."

"Um, excuse me?"

I turned around to see who had talked to me. The youngest out of the seven, the one who resembled the movie star look-alike, had stepped forward. His gray green eyes nervously glanced up at the tall man still at the front of the group before looking back at me.

"Where are we?"

I spread my arms wide and said in an announcer's voice, "Welcome to the house of Black. A place where the insanity never stops."

If April had been there, she would have told me that that was an inappropriate way of introducing strangers to our home. After what happened next, I would have to disagree with her.


End file.
